Malkin powers Penguins past Panthers

Malkin has four goals and 13 assists during an eight-game point streak for the
Penguins, who are 6-1-1 over their last eight games. James Neal, Chris Kunitz,
Joe Vitale and Jussi Jokinen also lit the lamp.

"I'm not at the top (of my game)," Malkin said. "Sometimes I have the puck and
I need to shoot. Instead I pass. It's a mistake for me. Sometimes I'm in a
great position to shoot. I just need to shoot myself."

Jeff Zatkoff stopped 39-of-40 shots in the victory.

Scottie Upshall scored the lone goal for the Panthers, who have lost four of
five.

Tim Thomas was benched after turning aside 9-of-13 shots over two periods.
Scott Clemmensen made eight saves in the third frame.

"The mistakes went back to us again," Panthers interim head coach Peter
Horachek said. "We have to decide if we're going to be a mentally focused
team. We have 40 shots; we outchance them, we outshoot them, they capitalize
on their opportunities. A good team does that."

The Penguins scored a pair of goals in a span of 32 seconds midway through the
first period. The first score came on the power play at the 10:45 mark, when
Malkin intercepted Thomas' clearing attempt along the boards and fired a pass
toward the net. Kunitz just got enough of the puck to score into an open net.

Vitale put home a rebound from a sharp angle for his first goal of the season
and the visitors were up by two after one period.

Malkin made it a 3-0 contest at the 7:23 mark of the middle stanza, as he beat
Thomas with a nice forehand-to-backhand deke.

Florida appeared to get on the board with 9:45 to go, but the goal by Brad
Boyes was disallowed after replay determined he intentionally kicked in the
puck.

The Panthers did score with 2:07 remaining when Upshall used a backhander to
beat Zatkoff.

But the Penguins scored just 29 seconds later when Malkin backhanded a pass
from behind the net to Neal, whose one-timer got past Thomas.

Jokinen scored at 6:10 of the third period to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

The Panthers fell to 1-2-0 on their five-game homestand ... Florida went 1-
for-4 on the power play ... Panthers forward Sean Bergenheim played in his
400th NHL game ... Florida forward Jesse Winchester returned after missing
three games with a lower-body injury.